Wednesday, February 10, 2010

One lovely vignette, a favorite old shop, and a treasured book

would be lying if I said that my love of displaying objects had not been influenced by the wonderful vignettes found in Nesting On Main in Concord, Massachusetts.

When I brought home this Vintage cigar box, a few small bird feathers, and "Nesting" inspiration, I couldn’t wait to fill it this box with something wonderful.

I was decorating my own mantle and creating vignettes, having brought home so much inspiration and a few treasures from Nesting, when I noticed my treasured copy of My Robin by Francis Burnett.

In the book THE SECRET GARDEN there is the robin who befriends the character Dickon and Mary.

Following the release of the book, Francis Burnett received many letters asking about the Robin. She then published this little book in 1912.

In the book, she told of this little robin visiting her in her Kent rose garden in England. He was so friendly that he would sit nearby, sometimes even on her hat, while she wrote. He became a friend and she loved him dearly.

After arranging my mantel,

I took the book and used this beautiful Antique painting of her robin to create some special one-of-a-kind cards. I don't like to take these special treasures apart, so I simply scan them and use my digital paintbox to restore and repurpose the artwork found inside an Antique book.

Safely tucked into the Vintage cigar box, finished with a bit of tissue paper, lovely bird feather and some new bird labels I designed, it was ready to share.

Inspiration seems to have a life of it’s own, one lovely vignette, a favorite old shop, and a treasured book can lead one down a path of sheer joy.

There are five designs in all, and they all use the artwork found in the book by the famous painter and illustrator, of Alfred Brennan. One is a watercolor, and the other is an etching.( A Nineteenth century American painter, etcher and illustrator. His work is still cherished today and found in many art collections).

I took the two artwork pages and designed borders and reworked the one that was of the etching.

Inside I added a small page telling the story of MY ROBIN. Each card is embellished with vintage ribbons that I found in Nesting. The top of the box is decorated in vintage ribbons and a tag.

hen Frances left Kent she was sad that she would never see The Robin again.

Yet her gift of writing, and memorizing her sentiments,

allows all of us to see him again and again through her words.

Alfred Brennan truly captured the beautiful

details through her words.

The name of this song isIf I Could See You Again.

t is my hope that by restoring these prints and setting them free onto cards, I will be keeping her beautiful story, MY ROBIN alive. This treasure is listed on my etsy shop along with some other new items.